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Iodine-131 Contamination from Thyroid Cancer Patients

Department of Radiology, Section of Nuclear Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Radiation Safety Program Office, Milwaukee County Medical Complex, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Correspondence: For reprints contact: Charles R. Wilson, PhD, Department of Radiology, Section of Medical Physics & Imaging Sciences, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8700 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53226.

ABSTRACT

High-dose radioactive iodine therapy using ¹³¹I is the treatment of choice for patients with thyroid cancer following thyroidectomy. Because of the large amount of activity which is excreted during hospitalization, contamination hazard from ¹³¹I excretion via perspiration, saliva, breath and urine may arise. In eight patients treated with doses of ¹³¹I ranging from 3.7 to 14.8 GBq (100–400 mCi), activity levels were measured in room air, from room surfaces, the toilet, the patients' exhaled breath, skin, saliva and toothbrushes, and the gloves used by medical staff. Thyroid bioassays were also performed on medical staff personnel caring for these patients both before and two days after administration of the treatment dose. Removable activity from the skin was positively correlated with treatment dose and reached a maximum at 24 hr post-therapy. Removable activity from room surfaces exceeded the level of contamination which requires clean-up in a restricted area during the patient's hospitalization. Thyroid bioassays on medical staff showed no significant uptake 2 days after treatment. The relatively high activities present in the saliva, urine and on the skin of these patients emphasizes the need for all individuals coming in contact with these patients to be made aware of the contamination hazard present.

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